wet or dry clutch on a 76 sporty

[joemoto]

is there supposed to be oil in your primary or not? some say tranny fluid??:smoke

[ericfreeman]

A '76 should have the wet clutch. About 26 oz of primary/trans lube goes into the primary and flows into the tranny for lubrication. There's a Phillips head screw low on the primary cover forward of the footpeg that is a level indicator hole. With that screw out, fill the primary until fluid begins running out the hole, indicating the proper level. Too much and you'll have clutch slippage problems.

Eric

[ryder rick]

The correct lube for your primary & trans is Sport Trans Lube.
It is high shear gear oil with no friction modifiers.
It is marketed by
Drag Specialties - Gear & Chaincase for Sportster
Bikers Choice - Sport Trans Lube
Bel Ray - Sport Transmission Fliud
Twin Power - Sport Trans Lube
Klotz - Gear & Chaincase for Sportster
RevTech - Gear & Chain

ATF is too thin for the trans (no cushioning).
Regular gear oil has friction modifiers in it the the clutch won't like.
Motor oil is not high shear.

[flathead45]

not to start an oil war, just my own personal experiences.

when I had sport/tranny oil in my 72 I would get some slippage, I switched to straight 50w and things seem better. but I still haven't put alot of miles on it yet. so I'm still up in the air as of now.

this is something I was told to try by an old wrench who has done alot of old ironheads in the past.

[11B40]

Any synthetic will eventually make the clutch slip. The same engine oil goes in the primary as they swap spit through he relief valve anyway.

[Hopper]

Get a workshop manual, quick. Not knowing basic things like how much oil should be where can kill your bike in a very few short miles.

JP Cycles has manuals and parts books, which are equally valuable.

[jagdprcp]

The correct lube for your primary & trans is Sport Trans Lube.

Not true for a stock 76 that does not have the crossover vent plugged. The crossover vent allows a tiny bit of cross over between the motor and transmission. That is why the FSM says to run the same oil (20W50) in both the motor and trans.

If that crossover is already plugged then run whatever makes you feel good. It doesn't really matter what you run as long as you change it regularly.